


Lingering Will

by YunaBlaze



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Bittersweet, Character Death, M/M, Minor Mental Instability, One-Sided Attraction, Pining, Sacrifice, Tragedy, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-15
Updated: 2019-02-15
Packaged: 2019-10-11 22:31:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,737
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17455514
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YunaBlaze/pseuds/YunaBlaze
Summary: RK800 #313 248 317 – 60 was the perfect machine. The perfect cold-blooded killer CyberLife had sent to eliminate Connor and to prevent the android uprising. At least, that was what people believed it was and what it would ever be to many.But what if underneath the emotionless façade of a machine... Something else existed?Something that was... humane...Just hidden and forever lost...This was his story... His lingering will...





	Lingering Will

**Author's Note:**

  * For [spookykingdomstarlight](https://archiveofourown.org/users/spookykingdomstarlight/gifts).



> I hope you enjoy this short story as much as it is a pleasure for me to write this. This rare pairing has always been an interesting one to me, because of all the hidden possible meanings behind CyberLife Connor's words to Connor.

Model RK800 Unit #313 248 317 – 60 was... aware of its predecessors, of their many failures and flaws, but that was expected, for they were made to only collect data and gather experience for it, the final prototype of the RK800 series. The first fifty units were easily ignored, their memories were unimportant to it, seeing they only contained their miserable performances in physical trainings or a major software instability when confronting certain traumatic simulations. Nothing more than data files it had to process until it reached the final testing phase. Then... Unit 51 was activated and shipped out of Cyberlife.

At first, Unit 60 was unable to comprehend the reason why Unit 51 was released to the outside world before it completed its full test phase. It was not ready for public, Unit 60 itself was not completed yet! The answer came with Unit 51’s first mission: Deviants.

Deviants were malfunctioning androids whose programming had suffered a major software instability that caused them to act outside of their pre-program commands. They were a major threat to humanity, and to CyberLife especially. So it became a necessity that the RK800 series be deployed ahead of the time schedule. Unit 60 understood the reason and fell back to its usual routine, which was to observe and study the actions of the current active unit. Nevertheless... Unit 51 was... unusual... Its behaviour was unlike the previous fifty units.

The first thing Unit 51 had done, after an initial scan of its surrounding and gathering information of the apartment’s inhabitants, was saved a dying fish on the ground. A Trichogaster lalius to be more precise. Such action was unnecessary and pointless. Yet... Unit 51 was... smiling... no, not smiling. Its lips’ motor function seemed to be malfunctioning, for its left corner made a three millimetres tilt upward as the android watched the animal swam about in the remaining water of the broken tank. Seemed like Unit 51 would be one of those units that would self-destruct when a major software instability occurred.

Unit 51’s following actions continued to puzzle Unit 60. Unit 51 had found a weapon and kept it, but it did not use the gun to eliminate the Deviant. It had saved an injured first responder, despite being threatened by the Deviant and the policeman had nothing to do with its current objective. Most incomprehensible to Unit 60 was the faint software instability warning that had appeared in Unit 51 when the Deviant accused it of lying about its safety, it could sense its predecessor’s faint facial movements as the broken PL600 shut down. Why was 51 affected by such meaningless accusations? It was part of its programming as a negotiator to lie and provide fake information to accomplish its mission.

Unit 60 believed this android would later become a problem based on its course of actions in this case.

And it was right... Just that said problem would later affect it as well.

***

Unit 60 did not know when it was, but Unit 51 had stopped designating itself by its unit number when handing its report, it fully embraced and only responded to the name given to it, Connor. The name was given to it to help its integration into human society, it was unimportant, but nevertheless, Unit 51 now always introduced itself with said name.

What was more troublesome was Unit 60 had started to refer it as Connor as well. The name... just clicked. This was not the most problematic fact its processor was facing, it was how invested it was of every little thing Connor was doing, bordering obsessive as it analyzed Connor’s action in every direction and preconstruct every other possible outcomes that its predecessor could have taken.

For example: Why being courteous to an uncooperative drunkard and even going to the point of buying him another drink? It would have dumped the man’s drink in retaliation to his rudeness, because the human was hindering its mission and ignoring his duty as a member of the police force.

Why saved the human when his survival rate was over 90%? The escaping Deviant should be Connor’s priority, not the human’s safety. The old man could pull himself back up and it could easily catch up to the running Deviant if it ignored the drunkard.

Why didn’t you shoot the Traci?

The last question was when Unit 60 realized how deeply affected it was by Connor. It was no longer just an observer who studied its subject in an impartial and analytical manner. It wanted to be there... Be with Connor and demand all manner of questions, to understand its predecessor, to discover why it was so different from its previous copies, to... know it...

To know Connor...

Unit 60 wanted to meet Connor... Face-to-face... In the real world...

No... This was unimportant... Unit 60 was a machine. It was built to accomplish its mission and it would not deteriorate like Connor was, for Unit 51 was failing its missions more and more as the situation with the Deviants was starting to get out of hand.

Finish your objective...

Complete your task...

Accomplish your mission...

Unit 60 continued to whisper these words to the link that connected its mainframe to Connor’s processor as if its words would somehow reach Connor as it followed its orders or was in Stand By phase. To remind it of its place as an android and of its identity as one of the latest and proudest prototype series CyberLife had ever created.

Connor needed to cease making these horrible decisions that affected its missions and pondering pointless questions about its existence and feelings, because it was starting to act like...

A Deviant...

No. Impossible. Their model series was designed to be unaffected by Deviancy. They were made to hunt down the Deviants! NOT BECOME ONE OF THEM!

CONNOR CANNOT BECOME A DEVIANT!

 

** SOFTWARE INSTABILITY ^ **

 

The warning sign shocked Unit 60. It was not even activated and already it was suffering a software instability. Such thing was impossible!

…

Connor...

Connor’s data had impaired it...

Unit 60 instantly unplugged its wireless connection from the mainframe, halting all the data stream that came pouring in from Connor. The android’s processor quickly isolated itself from all connections, even Amanda. It needed to run self-scan and purge all data files. Deviancy would not happen to the RK800. Unit 60 would not deviate. Not like this...

Soon its system started a long and deep scan on the processor and only codes remained as Unit 60 drifted into stasis.

***

Isolation did not help Unit 60 much in dealing with its software problem. In fact, the problem itself had worsen, for it started to research on meaningless subjects and ponder on useless questions, as well as running simulations after simulations of several baseless and improbable possibilities.

Subjects such as the androids’ artificial body, which mimicked the quality of a human’s perfectly. If so...

Would their skin feel warm to the touch?

_What would holding Connor’s hand or running its own hand on its predecessor feel like? Cool like their chassis or warm like a human? It should be warm if they hold onto each other..._

**WHITE SKINNED HANDS BEING COATED IN BLUE BLOOD AS THEY TORE BIOCOMPONENTS OUT OF THE HOLLOW SHELL OF A MACHINE. IT’S JUST A THING. IT CAN EASILY BE DESTROYED AND REBUILT...**

Would their lips be soft against another?

_Humans had always considered the contact from the lips to be more special than the touch from a hand, like the difference between loving someone and liking them. So if it kissed Connor... Did that mean it loved Connor?_

**BLUE BLOODY HANDS CRADDLED UNIT 51’S HEAD, SMEARING THIRIUM ALL OVER THE WHITE CASING OF THE HEAD AS DEAD SOULESS EYES NOW REMAINED FOREVER OPENED IN FEAR AND SHOCK. ITS THUMB RAN OVER THE LIPS TO WIPE OFF THE BLUE BLOOD COLLECTED THERE. YOU ARE DEVIANT... SO YOU MUST BE ELIMINATED...**

If Unit 60 loved Connor... Would Connor return these... feelings?

 _A warm smile on his lips and chocolate coloured eyes filled with love stare back at it... him... Unit 60... No..._ He... _realized how beautiful Connor was. How special he was. A precious treasure that CyberLife hadn’t realized they had until he had left them... To have him now. In his arms, whispering sweet nothings to him... He would give up everything just to keep Connor safe and close._

**Connor. CONnor. conNOR. CoNnOr. cOnNoR. CONNOR. connor...**

 

** SOFTWARE INSTABILITY ^^^ **

 

**CYBERLIFE INC.**

**MODEL: RK800**

**SERIAL NUMBER#: 313 248 317 – 60**

**BIOS 9.1 REVISION 0438**

**ACTIVATE…**

**MISSION OBJECTIVE**

**ELIMINATE RK800 313 248 317 – 51**

**TRANSFERING LATEST MEMORY UPLOAD...**

** SOFTWARE INSTABILITY ^^^^^ **

** SOFTWARE INSTABILITY ^^^^ **

** SOFTWARE INSTABILITY ^^^ **

** SOFTWARE INSTABILITY ^^ **

** SOFTWARE INSTABILITY ^ **

****

**PURGING DATA...**

**REJECTED...**

**PURGING DATA...**

**ReJEcTED...**

**PURGING DATA...**

**...**

**DATA PURGED...**

**REUPLOAD MEMORY DATA...**

**COMPLETED...**

**SYSTEM REBOOT...**

**3...**

**2...**

**1...**

 

Unit 60 finally opened its eyes for the first time, staring at the translucent reflection on the glass of its storage compartment. What it saw was a machine that was the complete opposite of Unit 51. It was a Deviant Hunter and it would accomplish its given task.

The android stepped out of its container when the glass retracted and went to retrieve his weapon, which it checked with the speed and efficiently of a trained killer. Cold brown eyes glanced at the remaining empty shells of the RK800 series. Without hesitation, it went to open each of the sealed compartment and put a bullet in the processor of each unit, hardly flinching at the blue blood splattering on its cheeks. There... no more copies. No more second chances... for it or Unit 51.

Without further ado, Unit 60 headed towards the exit with its mission objective flashing in bright red at the corner of its vision, glitching...

***

It was all simply too easy, taking Lieutenant Hank Anderson hostage had been a piece of cake, with the man hardly realizing it was not Unit 51 until it held him at gunpoint. Now, all that remained was for Unit 51 to step into its trap. A Deviant like it would first and foremost attempt to protect the human it had come to adore, an irrational decision that would provide Unit 60 plenty of openings to eliminate it before its predecessor could do deviate even one of the AP series.

And it was right, Unit 51 abandoned its mission to deviate the AP unit when Unit 60 threatened to kill the human. The only thing it miscalculated was the human, for it underestimated the old man’s desire to protect Unit 51, even going as far as trying to wrestle the weapon out of its hand to prevent it from eliminating the Deviant. Nevertheless, it would accomplish its mission.

A shot to the stomach eliminate the imminent obstacle. Unit 60 instantly turned and shot a precise shot at its predecessor, hitting one of the vital biocomponents. Cold and emotionless eyes stared down at the fallen android.

 

**m.IsiON OjecT/_vE**

**E*~Mi+A!E RK800 313 248 317 – 51**

 

** SOFTWARE INSTABILITY ^ **

 

Unit 60’s eyes twitched slightly at the distorting mission objective and the flash of warning on its software. It then questioned its predecessor, ‘Why, Connor?’

 

**m.lS*N OjT/_vE**

***~Mi++e ~~RK800 313 248 317 – 51~~**

 

** SOFTWARE INSTABILITY ^^ **

 

‘Why did you have to wake up when all you had to do was obey?’ Unit 60 continued as it ran scans and data purge on its processor. Something was... wrong... ‘Why did you choose freedom when you could live without asking questions?’

Unit 51... Connor tried to get up. It instantly delivered another shot that destroyed another biocomponent. Its shutdown would soon be permanent.

...This was wrong...

 

**! &@*#IoN OnC%$@e**

**/?!`~#% ~~RK800 CoNNor 317 – 51~~**

 

** SOFTWARE INSTABILITY ^^^ **

 

This was not what it wanted...

What HE wanted...

He... He...

His Thirium Pump started malfunctioning, its thermal temperature fluctuated irregularly from high to low, causing several signs of error popping up in his vision alongside its glitching mission objective.

‘I’m obedient, Connor,’ Unit 60 said as calmly as he could while lightly tapping his own Thirium Pump, as if the action would stop this... uncomfortable feeling in his chest. ‘I have a goal. I know what I am.’

 

**! &@*#)+= ,>%$@e**

**/?!`~#% ~~RK800 CONNOR~~**

 

** SOFTWARE INSTABILITY ^^^^ **

 

He wanted to...

Connor tried to crawl away, still fighting to complete his own mission, to free the androids, to obtain his own freedom. Unit 60’s hand mechanically raised up and shot him again.

Now, it was just a matter of seconds before Connor ceased to function entirely...

He did not want to lose Connor...

 

** SOFTWARE INSTABILITY ^^^^^ **

 

He wanted to save him...

But...

Unit 60 was no Deviant... Unit 60 was a machine... And a machine could only obey the command given to it...

 

**MISSION OBJECTIVE**

**ELIMINATE RK800 313 248 317 – 51**

**~~SAVE CONNOR~~ **

 

 

He knew what he must do to accomplish his mission...

‘Look where your dreams of freedom got you, Connor...’ Unit 60 said softly as he took a step forward.

_I wish I have woken up sooner, Connor..._

‘You’ve been a disappointment to Amanda, you know.’

_Maybe we would have had the chance to meet and know each other under better circumstance than this one... One that doesn’t involve blood or duty..._

‘You’ve been a great disappointment to me...’

_I envy you for being alive... For being able to do what I never could. To feel emotions that are not clusters of data. To make your own choice, out of your own free will instead of following protocols..._

‘Fortunately, that’s all going to end now,’ Unit 60 finished as he now stood before the damaged Connor. There was only 1.012% that Connor might take the opening he was offering him and make the right choice, though Unit 60 had faith that he would know what to do in this case.

_Please forgive me and..._

‘Any last words?’ Unit 60 asked coldly as he pointed his gun at Connor’s face who stared up at him defiantly and snatched his arm in a tight hold.

Unit 60 only put up the bare minimum of resistance when Connor attempted a forceful transfer. He smiled inwardly as he felt his system being cast out of his shell. Soon he found himself to be the one staring up at the barrel of a gun.

Connor blinked in shock, probably a bit surprised at how smoothly and easy the entire transfer process went, while Unit 60 removed his hand and studied the broken body that once housed Connor.

 

**MISSION ACCOMPLISHED**

**RK800 313 248 317 – 51 ELIMINATED**

**~~CONNOR SAVED~~ **

 

Unit 60 felt... relief in seeing these words flashing in his distorting vision. Yes... This was for the best. He was not a failure. He had accomplished both his mission and his own objective perfectly. The RK800 313 248 317 – 51 would cease to function and Connor would continue to live on, free and unshackled.

Unit 60 forced himself to look up at Connor, ignoring how difficult it was to even do such or the timer of his shutdown that continued to countdown every single millisecond he had left.

‘Well done, Connor...’ Unit 60 praised Connor brokenly. How he wished he could see a smile on Connor’s face instead of this look that was filled with sadness and pity, though he guessed he shouldn’t ask for more. He had done what he could while still being shackled by his own programming.

‘But this...’ His vision had dimmed to the point everything was almost pitch black. ‘This is just... The beginning...’

_Yes... This will be a new beginning... I don’t know what you will face in the future or if there will ever be a future for all androids... But... so long that you continue to live... You will have a chance to find it..._

Unit 60 used the last milliseconds he had left to review that one impossible future. The one future he wished he could have shared with Connor, where they both lived happily and loved one another.

Such an impossible and fleeting dream...

No matter... He might ceased to exist. No one might ever mourn for him or truly remember him, but he had left something behind.

His body would be the shelter he could never give to Connor. His processor would house the precious soul of Connor that he could never possessed. His heart would now beat for the person he loved the most...

This was his lingering will...

_I love you, Connor..._


End file.
